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KR-102962110-B1 - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AUTODEFOG OF VEHICLE

KR102962110B1KR 102962110 B1KR102962110 B1KR 102962110B1KR-102962110-B1

Abstract

An auto-defog control device for a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a camera that acquires front and rear images of the vehicle, a telematics unit that acquires location information of the vehicle and surrounding environment information of the vehicle, and a control unit that calculates the degree of opacity of each pixel of the front and rear images, determines whether frost has formed on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, and, if frost has formed on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, calculates a control value for removing the frost based on at least one of whether the vehicle is started, the degree of opacity of the pixel, the location where the frost has formed, the location of the vehicle, and surrounding information of the vehicle. By determining the frost using an image captured by the camera and allowing the frost to be automatically removed in a manner optimized for the user, the driver's manual operation for frost removal can be fundamentally prevented, thereby improving safety.

Inventors

  • 백주암

Assignees

  • 현대자동차주식회사
  • 기아 주식회사

Dates

Publication Date
20260511
Application Date
20210504

Claims (18)

  1. A camera that acquires front and rear images of a vehicle; A telematics unit for acquiring location information of the vehicle and surrounding environment information of the vehicle; and The control unit calculates the degree of opacity of each pixel of the front and rear images, determines whether frost has formed on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, and if frost has formed on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, calculates a control value for removing the frost based on at least one of whether the vehicle is started, the degree of opacity of the pixel, the location where the frost formed, the location of the vehicle, and surrounding information of the vehicle. The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that, if the degree of opacity of the pixel is not changed through window control or climate control for a predetermined period of time, determines the pixel whose degree of opacity is not changed as unremovable noise, and excludes the pixel determined as unremovable noise from the target for calculating the control value.
  2. In claim 1, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that converts the above-mentioned front and rear images into grayscale images and then calculates the degree of opacity of each pixel.
  3. delete
  4. In claim 1, The surrounding information of the above vehicle An auto-defog control device for a vehicle including weather information, ambient temperature information, and fine dust status information around the vehicle.
  5. In claim 4, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that calculates a control value based on one or more of the opacity of the pixel, the location of the vehicle, the weather information, the ambient temperature information, and the fine dust status information when the vehicle is not in an ignition state.
  6. In claim 4, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that extracts the coordinates of a pixel whose degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value and determines the location where frost occurred based on the coordinates of the pixel.
  7. In claim 6, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that calculates a control value based on one or more of the location where frost occurred, the weather information, the ambient temperature information, the location of the vehicle, and the fine dust condition when the vehicle is in an ignition state.
  8. In claim 1, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that performs auto-defog operation by controlling the operation of the window and the air conditioning system based on the above control value.
  9. In claim 8, The above control unit An auto-defog control device for a vehicle that controls the operation of the window and the operation of the air conditioning system based on the user-set value when there is a user-set value in addition to the control value in the operation of the window and the operation of the air conditioning system.
  10. A step of calculating the degree of opacity of each pixel of the front and rear images of a vehicle acquired from a camera; A step of determining whether frost has formed on pixels where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value; and If frost occurs on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, the method includes the step of calculating a control value for removing the frost based on at least one of whether the vehicle is started, the degree of opacity of the pixel, the location where the frost occurred, the location of the vehicle, and surrounding information of the vehicle. The step of determining whether the above frost has occurred A method for controlling an auto-defog of a vehicle, comprising the step of determining that if the degree of opacity of the pixel is not changed through window control or climate control for a predetermined period of time, the pixel whose degree of opacity is not changed is determined to be unremovable noise, and excluding the pixel determined to be unremovable noise from the target for calculating the control value.
  11. In claim 10, The step of calculating the opacity of each pixel above A vehicle auto-defog control method that converts the above-mentioned front and rear images into grayscale images and then calculates the degree of opacity of each pixel of the above-mentioned grayscale image.
  12. delete
  13. In claim 10, The surrounding information of the above vehicle Auto-defog control method for a vehicle including surrounding weather information, outside temperature information, and fine dust status information of the vehicle.
  14. In claim 13, The step of calculating the above control value A method for controlling an auto-defog of a vehicle, comprising the step of calculating a control value based on one or more of the opacity of the pixel, the location of the vehicle, the weather information, the ambient temperature information, and the fine dust status information when the vehicle is not in an ignition state.
  15. In claim 13, A vehicle auto-defog control method that extracts the coordinates of a pixel whose degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value and determines the location where frost occurred based on the pixel coordinates.
  16. In claim 15, The step of calculating the above control value A method for controlling an auto-defog of a vehicle, comprising the step of calculating a control value based on any one of the location where frost occurred, the weather information, the ambient temperature information, the location of the vehicle, and the fine dust condition when the vehicle is in an ignition state.
  17. In claim 10, A method for controlling an auto-defog of a vehicle, further comprising the step of controlling the operation of a window and the operation of an air conditioning system based on the above control value to perform an auto-defog operation.
  18. In claim 17, A method for controlling an auto-defog of a vehicle, wherein in the operation of the window and the operation of the air conditioning system, there is a user-set value in addition to the control value, the operation of the window and the operation of the air conditioning system is controlled based on the user-set value.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Controlling Autodefog of Vehicle The present invention relates to an auto-defog control device and method for a vehicle. The rain sensor can detect moisture on the inner surface of the vehicle's windshield, and the auto-defog device can control air conditioning and air circulation to remove the moisture detected by the rain sensor, i.e., frost generated inside the cabin. However, there is a limitation in that the humidity sensor within the rain sensor cannot detect humidity across the entire windshield, resulting in lower precision in humidity sensing. Additionally, since the auto-defog system operates based on preset values, it cannot adapt to changing surrounding conditions, which actually increases inconvenience for the driver and leads to a trend of decreasing usage frequency. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an auto-defog control device of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a noise determination method according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an auto-defog control method for a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the location of frost formation according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5 to 7 are flowcharts illustrating an auto-defog control method for a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that in assigning reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components are given the same reference numeral whenever possible, even if they are shown in different drawings. Furthermore, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known components or functions would hinder understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, such detailed description is omitted. In describing the components of the embodiments of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc., may be used. These terms are intended merely to distinguish the components from other components, and the essence, order, or sequence of the components is not limited by the terms. Furthermore, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as generally understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant technology, and should not be interpreted in an ideal or overly formal sense unless explicitly defined in this application. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an auto-defog control device of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the auto defog control device (100) of a vehicle may include a camera (110), a telematics unit (120), an air conditioning unit (130), and a control unit (140). The camera (110) can acquire front and rear images of the vehicle. The camera (110) may be integrated with a black box inside the vehicle and may include a storage unit capable of storing front and rear images of the vehicle acquired on an image sensor (CMOS or CCD). The telematics unit (120) can obtain location information of the vehicle and surrounding information of the vehicle by combining wireless communication and GPS technology. Here, surrounding information of the vehicle may include weather information around the vehicle, outside temperature information, and fine dust status information. Weather information may include snow, rain, cloudy, and clear, and fine dust status information may include good, good, normal, bad, and very bad. The air conditioning unit (130) can circulate air according to the air circulation mode or discharge wind to control the temperature and humidity inside the vehicle. The control unit (140) can be implemented by various processing devices, such as a microprocessor, which has a semiconductor chip capable of performing calculations or executions of various commands, and can control the operation of the auto-defog control device of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the control unit (140) calculates the degree of opacity of each pixel of the front and rear images obtained from the camera, determines whether frost has occurred on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, and if frost has occurred on a pixel where the degree of opacity exceeds a predetermined value, calculates a control value for removing the frost based on at least one of the following: whether the vehicle is started, the degree of opacity of the pixel,